1943 – June 13, two USAAF B-17F bombers in formation collide 2M SW Fedora, SD — 11
Compiled by Wayne Blanchard; last edit 5-6-2024 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/
–11 Mireles 2006. Fatal Army AF Aviation Accidents…US…, V. 1 Jan 1941-Jun 1943, p. 405.
–11 Mitchell Republic, SD. “WWII airmen honored 65 years after crash.” 6-13-2008.
–10 Bismarck Tribune, ND. “Ten Killed as Army Bombers Collide.” 6-14-1943, p. 1.
Narrative Information
Baugher: “Lockheed/Vega B-17F-15-VE Fortress….5750 crashed near Fedora, South Dakota Jun 13, 1943 after collision with 42-5790.” (Baugher, Joseph F. 1942 USAAF Serial Numbers (42-001 to 42-30031). 10-28-2011 revision.)
Mireles: “At 1545, two Boeing B-17F type airplanes collided in mid-air near Fedora, South Dakota, killing eleven fliers aboard B-17F #750, which crashed to the ground two miles southwest of Fedora. B-17F #790 crash-landed nine miles west of Canova, South Dakota, injuring ten crewmembers, three of them seriously. One crewmember was uninjured. The Accident Classification Committee stated,
“Three B-17s #42-5790 [2Lt. Billy F. Fuller leading, airplane #42-5750 [2Lt. Owen B. Groves] flying in number-two position and airplane #42-5446 [2Lt. Frederick R. Glazier] flying in number- three position were on an authorized formation training flight [at an altitude of approximately 4,500 feet agl]. A mid-air collision occurred during three-ship formation when aircraft #750 crossed under lead ship ( #790), came up under it and struck it, resulting in damage to both aircraft to such an extent that aircraft #750 fell out of control and crashed immediately and aircraft #790 made an immediate forced landing. Lt. Glazier in airplane #446 flying number three position had crossed over to the right side of the formation, forming a right echelon, then Lt. Groves flying in airplane #750 started his cross over to number two position. Evidently Lt. Groves did not drop down enough to clear [lead] airplane’s propeller wash before crossing over.” 2Lt. Edward Knowles, Jr., aboard B-17 #446, stated to investigators, “B-17 #446 dropped back and down and echeloned to the right (stepped down) and #750, in attempting to cross under #790, hit #790 [in the] ball turret with … its tail assembly, [which] broke loose at the main entrance door and flew up and hit the right stabilizer of #790 and broke it off. B-17 #750 went into a vertical dive and B-17 #790 peeled off to the right and went into a gentle glide and made a crash landing. B-17 #446 circled the area once and headed for Sioux Falls, South Dakota.” (Quoted in Mireles 2006, V1, p. 405.)
Mitchell Republic, SD. “WWII airmen honored 65 years after crash.” 6-13-2008:
“FEDORA — Even 65 years after his B-17 bomber collided with another near Fedora, Lawrence Dreesen still finds his mind drifting back to the midair collision that killed 11 young airmen….
“Dreesen was a guest of honor at a ceremony Friday to dedicate a roadside historical marker that commemorates the training accident that occurred nearby in 1943. On a training mission, two B-17 bombers collided, killing all 11 members of one plane and causing the other plane and its crew — including Dreesen, then a 23-year-old radio operator — to crash land eight miles southeast of Fedora. The marker, located along Highway 34, is approximately 2½ miles northwest of the fatal crash site and memorializes the single biggest air disaster in the history of South Dakota.[1]
“After taking off from Sioux City, Iowa, the planes had flown for three hours before maneuvering to switch formation. At 3,000 feet, planes 750 and 790 collided. The propellers of plane 790 completely cut off the tail section of plane 750, causing the tail gunner to fall to his death and the plane to lose control, do a half loop and slam to the ground. The remaining 10 crew members all were killed upon impact….
“Airmen killed in plane 750:
Lt. O. B. Groves, pilot
2nd Lt. Michael R. Hric, co-pilot
2nd Lt. Roy B. Lever, navigator
2nd Lt. James J. O’Connell, navigator
S/Sgt. Rodney T. Cassidy, bombardier
Sgt. Sidney S. Packer, radio operator
S/Sgt. Dean M. Garland, engineer
S/Sgt. Murry V. Whitehead, radio operator
S/Sgt. Marvin J. Curtis, gunner
S/Sgt. Charles R. Bowers, gunner
Sgt. Bruno E. Twardy, gunner.”
Newspaper at the time
June 14, Associated Press: “Fedora, S.D. – (AP) – Collision of two four-engined army bombers near here Sunday, which sent the 10 airmen of the one craft to death in their flaming plane, was under investigation Monday. Nine of the 10 men in the second plane were injured when it landed in trouble after the accident but attendants of Mitchell hospitals where eight were taken said none was in serious condition.
Were Flying in Formation
“Capt. P. E. Schick, public relations officer at the Sioux City army air base, to which the planes were attached, announced investigation was under way. He declined details but Miss Ella Esser, Howard, telephone operator, said a Lieutenant Fuller of the plane in which the men were injured reported that the two planes and a third not involved in the accident were flying in formation just
Before the collisions.
“William Gullickson, farmer living about 4 ½ miles southeast of here, gave a graphic eyewitness account. The three planes were flying in a tight “V” formation, he said, when he first saw them while he was fishing about 4 o’clock Sunday afternoon at Twin lake near his home. As he watched with a brother, Pete, and a neighbor, E. H. Johansen, the planes apparently started to change formation. One seemed momentarily to be above the other, Gullickson reported and then the two heavy bombers collided and the tail assembly dropped from the upper.
“”The plane without the tail started to earth.” ‘ Gullickson said, “then zoomed upward, did a half loop and flew on its back for a mile and a half before crashing and burning.”
“Back at the Gullickson house, Mrs. Johansen, visiting there, saw the tail assembly crash 100 feet from the Gullickson farm buildings. The body of one of the airmen also fell there, about 200 rods from the Gullickson bam, Mrs. Johansen said.
“Bodies of the nine other men were removed from the charred wreckage of the craft after it crashed in hay land on the farm of Frank Hart, Fedora rural mail carrier.
“The second place in the collision flew southeast several miles before coming down nine miles west of Canova. In addition to its eight men treated in Mitchell hospitals, observers said one man parachuted safely from this plane. The tenth occupant was said to be the pilot of the ship, the Lieutenant Fuller with whom Miss Esser talked at Howard. He had a bandaged head but was
not hospitalized.” (Bismarck Tribune, ND. “Ten Killed…Army Bombers Collide.” 6-14-1943, 1)
Sources
Baugher, Joseph F. 1942 USAAF Serial Numbers (42-001 to 42-30031). Oct 28 2011 revision. Accessed 12-9-2011 at: http://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_serials/1942_1.html
Bismarck Tribune, ND. “Ten Killed as Army Bombers Collide.” 6-14-1943, p. 1. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=13586596
Mireles, Anthony J. Fatal Army Air Forces Aviation Accidents in the United States, 1941-1945 (Volume 1: Introduction, January 1941 – June 1943). Jefferson, NC: McFarland and Co., 2006.
Mitchell Republic, SD. “WWII airmen honored 65 years after crash.” 6-13-2008. Accessed 5-6-2024 at: https://www.mitchellrepublic.com/news/wwii-airmen-honored-65-years-after-crash
[1] Not sure of term “single biggest.” Twelve died in a USAAF B-17 crash near Huron 2-17-1943. Seventeen died when a USAF B-29 with an engine fire crashed at the Rapid City AFB, 8-20-1948.